The present invention relates to an industrial peeler for onions or the like bulbous and tuberous vegetations.
In a machine disclosed in Dutch patent application No. 79 01641, there is at least one orienting unit in which the onions are caused to spin about a substantially vertical axis of rotation, extending along the tail and root, with the aid of at least one endless flexible means. A cutting mechanism cuts off the tails and root remainders; and, a notch mechanism, combined with the cutting mechanism, makes at least one indentation in the outer scales or skin of the onions. The combined mechanism also has at least one flexible endless means for rotating the onions, and a blow mechanism to remove the skin. The upper sections of the endless resilient means of the orienting unit extend obliquely downwardly at the location where the onions are transferred to the resilient endless means of the cutting and notching mechanism.
In the machine described above, the transfer of onions from the orienting unit to the combined cutting and notch mechanism does not take place in the correct way. This problem can be caused, in part, by the fact that the path in which the onions move forward is not rectilinear, as it is impossible to have both flexible means of the combined mechanism yield equal distances when an onion is supplied. If the two guides are set apart to form a larger mutual distance, onions may accumulate in the transfer area so that the correct operation of the machine is disturbed.